Ryebridge Construction has been crowned Business of the Year (less than 50 employees) and praised by judges for its ‘outstanding initiative, boldness and imagination’ as well as its ‘exceptional commercial success’.

The Luton based construction company, which celebrates its 10th birthday this year, was one of eight companies shortlisted for this top award - with the SME Luton and Bedfordshire Business Awards celebration taking place at the Bedford Corn Exchange in May 2019.

Director Daniel Coyle collected the award on behalf of his team: “What an incredible achievement, made even more special by the fact that this year marks our 10th anniversary.

“Many of our staff have been with us since the beginning and promoted within. We are committed to the local community, we recruit locally, give back to charities and community groups and we work hard to reduce any environmental impact.”

Most recently Ryebridge joined forces with Luton Town FC to sponsor the Hatters new navy kit and in September the company will be celebrating its birthday with two events: a day time Charity Golf Day at Luton Hoo and an evening black tie sporting celebrity dinner.The company aims to raise more than £40,000 for Age Concern Luton

Here are just a few more highlights from the last year that helped Ryebridge win this top business award:

London Luton Airport: A £3.2million project and 14,000 man hours worked – our London Luton Airport project saw us design and build a new temporary drop off zone. The works were delivered in a fully operation environment - to enable the drop off, deliveries, multi storey car park and bus providers to continue working as usual.

Safe and secure: We launched a new safety app for mobiles, which enables staff to easily report everything from health and safety hazards, incidents and near misses, along with environmental issues such as fuel spillages at the click of a button. Ryebridge is one of only a few companies to do this in the UK.

Punching his way to success: We have loved helping local boxing legend Jordan Reynolds punch and spar his way to the top – providing sponsorship to help the 22-year-old achieve his dream of reaching the Olympics. We are now supporting Jordan with his new venture, a boxing academy to keep Luton youngsters safe and off the streets.

Oaklands College: The multi-million-pound redevelopment of Oaklands College in St Albans is underway – with Ryebridge preparing the groundworks. Our director Daniel Coyle is a former student at the college, having studied construction management.

Inspiring students: Our staff have been visiting secondary schools in Luton, teaching year 9 and 10 pupils all about the construction industry. This is part of Luton Borough Council’s commitment to promoting construction as a career choice.

Apprenticeships: We have continued to invest in apprenticeships and now have a talented trio on board – gaining valuable experience at London Luton Airport (LLA). Meet Taylor, Joe and Mark.

On film: Our new YouTube channel is now live. Please check out our talented team and see us in action and on film.

Giving back: We continued to support local charities and good causes, including Love Luton and its inspirational #lutonsbestawards, Keech Hospice and Level Trust. At Christmas we donated to the Luton Food Bank

Flying high: Our new Airports brochure was designed and distributed. Working within a ‘live’ airport environment requires very specific skills and a demanding level of performance driven by stringent timing and safety standards.

Awards: In November we scooped our sixth GOLD Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents (RoSPA) award – in recognition for our outstanding work at London Luton Airport (LLA).

Looking forwards: In 2018 we joined forces with a local garage and in 2019 will officially launch Ryebridge Autos – to service Ryebridge’s fleet of vehicles but also open to the public. An MOT service will be launched later this year.

We have new projects underway at LLA and Oaklands College and are now meeting with airports across the UK to extend our ‘reach’.